But what's makes me think that MB Air is going to be a flop is the lack of 3G/HDSPA implementation. This computer is supposed to be the new "Wireless salvation" and MB Air is still depending on Wifi networks or 3G phones connected throu Bluetooth.

If you want total wireless freedom, MB Pro & a Merlin X950D Expresscard with 7,2Mbit is a better choice. Too bad the antenna is sticking out though.

DiggDigital

@BOYWITHBIGHANDS - well said - thanks for the much needed let's execute our future now statement!

in the same spirit, let's not forget Time Capsule is Apple's grand scheme for the backup game - it is about the only use of the firewire port on my macbook at the moment.

I separate my OS from my "media" (music, pictures, etc) and I think they are on the ball - my leopard partition only clocks in at 23GB and look forward to just streaming all my data with a pinch of caching here & there of course!

chinarut

This is like a Toyota Prius driver calling a Porsche Carrera owner a sucker becuase the Prius can seat 4 more comfortably, has better fuel economy and is cheaper.

At the end of the the day a lot of guys will berate or mock the guy who drove by in his Porsche but deep down you want to be him. Similarly, if you're using your EEEpc in Starbucks and a guy walks in with his MBA you might think "sucker" but deep down you'd wish you had it instead of the Asus.

shafj01

Mrbreakit

Uh. MBA on a plane? Dude, the MBA FAILS at 10,000 feet. Read the tech specs over at Apple.

I'd rather have a computer that *works* at high altitudes.

Ironic that they named this thing "Airbook". Quite the contrary.

dev97

Looks like you already qualify. Having typed on both, the macbook keyboard is far superior. Plus, it's actually full sized so my hands aren't cramped and uncomfortable. My chiclet keyboard doesn't feel soft and mushy whatsoever, are you sure you've even typed on one? But I guess since YOU said the EEE's keyboard is better, it's now a well known fact. Many people find the macbook keyboard comfortable and superior to most laptop keyboards.

Oh, and next time you're on an airplane with little light and you've turned your screen brightness down so it'll last the whole flight, try typing on your laptop. I'm not a retard, and nor are most of the people who enjoy having a backlit keyboard, but since it's a feature the MBA has over the EEE I guess it must be a feature only retards could desire.

I'm willing to bet there are plenty of people who WANT a full sized backlit keyboard, who want an 80 gig harddrive over the 4 gigs your EEE offers, who want something that looks good and sexy and still has a Core 2 Duo in it, with 2 gigs of ram. And since these people have the cash to drop for a MBA, I'm also willing to bet they aren't retards by any means.

Tiger-Fever

dev97

1. It *IS* ULTRA portable.
2. It *IS* Upgradeable. [ram is not SOLDERED on]
3. The SDHD slot is invaluable.
4. I've run Diablo II, Rise of Nations with NO Issues.
5. I've run Photoshop and Illustrator with NO Issues.
6. It has 3 usb ports.
7. Can 'hotswap' OSes. [Linux, Windows XP and OSX.] via bootable sdhd cards.

It's an amazing little unit.

dev97

When is a full-size keyboard worse than a tiny one? When it's the ressurection of the much maligned TRS-80 CoCo's keyboard.

"Flat" and "Mushy" are not good characteristics of a keyboard.

I wrote my statement poorly, but what I mean is this:

The MBA is made with slick metal. The front end is tapered almost to a point. It's thin. Therefore, it's highly likely to slip out from fingers' grasp at some point, with tragic results. Murphy's Law -- if something can go wrong, it will. If this laptop is designed as a very thin, slick wedge, it will most certainly be dropped at some point.

My HTC Excalibur/T-Mobile DASH as a rubber-like finish. I know that that's the likely reason why I haven't dropped it yet. The MBA doesn't even have an exposed hinge to hold onto. It's just asking for mishaps, e.g. while extricating it from its case, while closing the lid. You can imagine. I haven't touched one yet, but if the photos are accurate, it's visually stunning, but also too slick-looking, and not in a good way.

darex

One more thing:

The Keyboard on the Eee is responsive, has feedback, and is easy to type on once you get used to it.

It's not a flat, mushy keyboard like all the Macbooks now have. It's the worst keyboard I've ever tried. I don't know how any of you can stand it.

Yes, the Eee's tiny, squashed keyboard is actually more pleasant to type on!

darex

You haven't been following along.

1) only retards who can't touch type need a backlit keyboard
2) People already have successfully installed OSX on the Eee.
3) I already did upgrade the RAM to 1 GB.
4) Mine fits in a DVD player bag. MBA?? Nope!
5) At least I can get a second battery, and it's a replacement battery, not an add-on, so only 1 battery required.
6) I guess you've never stayed in a luxury hotel where the only internet connection in your room is an ethernet cable. I'll be fine. You'll be SOL. Enjoy the lobby's wifi though. I also have a dial-up modem port. I'll probably never use it, but it's there if I need it.

As much as you will pay for the MBA, I can easily afford these upgrades. My SDHC card was $40. My RAM upgrade was $19. Painful LOL.

I can't wait to see you drop it because it's so slick and thin, and the screen cracks on impact. Wah wah wah - I paid $3000 for it. Wah wah wah.

darex

How many people have a hard time getting a normal laptop into a backpack or whatever? No-one?

Plus those aren't hugely thicker, they're just stood up at an angle, for an arguably much more comfortable typing position. If this doesn't even have something to angle it up, that sucks somewhat.

Sacrifice a few more things you can get it even thinner. So what? Paper is thinner still. Yeah, it looks nice. Form doesn't outweigh function.

Onouris

When will a full size keyboard be worst then ANY smaller size keyboard!

Murphy's law? Where you get your degree? The University of Dumbass? If you can list one reason why the MBA is more likely to drop then I'll take this comment back!

Bauer22

Aberracus

As I mentioned before, though, this thing is way overpriced, but definitely lust-worthy. They really would have a category killer if they reduced the price (and it would still be overpriced-- just not as ridiculous as it is now.)

That there is even a discrepancy and comparative illustrations illustrates that there it may be more compelling to buy, say, the Fujitsu, speaking of specs. Of course, who wouldn't rather run the more powerful Unix OS? :)

iomatic

chigga

Give me a 10.1"-13.3" convertible Tablet PC that is less than 1" thick, 2-3 pounds, has an 8+ hour battery life, swappable battery, 2 USB ports, PCMCIA slot, ethernet port, no optical drive, no modem, upgradeable Intel Core 2 duo CPU, fingerprint sensor, daylight-viewable screen (1400x1050 res), Gyro/accelerometer, webcam, Array Mic, 2 GB DDR2, upgradeable MXM nvidia GPU, 64 GB SSD, multi-touch, GPS, stylish dock, SD Card slot, Bluetooth, WUSB, 802.11n, and WiMax... that's what I'd pay $3000 for, even if it had an Apple logo on it.

In the mean time, I'll wait a year and spend some money on a 64 GB SSD, tiny webcam, 802.11n/WiMax PCI Express card, and a new battery for my almost-2-year-old Toshiba m200 Tablet PC that is currently running Windows Vista like a champ (Vista is actually a blessing when it comes to Tablet PCs).

draiko

[gizmodo.com]

So who's talking out their ass now?

Yes, you little third-grader.

Heh.

iomatic

knappoleon

draiko

First, I'll admit - I will not buy one because it's too expensive for something I personally don't really need and don't have a lot of extra cash to burn.

This is a piece of a puzzle they're putting together to force the hand of where personal electronics are going - they're saying "Stop with all the fucking cables. Stop using CD-ROMs already. Get rid of as many outdated parts as we can." etc etc etc....

They're trying to start pushing out old technologies and streamline everything to push it where it's all headed eventually - no moving parts, everything wireless, no extraneous physical things. They're doing the absolute opposite of what companies like Sony and a lot of other pc companies do - pile on tons of little proprietary ports or extra little pieces of plastic.

Obviously it's too early for a lot of the things they're trying to do, but it's nice that someone is doing it - and doing it so well. They're right, and 2 years from now this is where things are headed. Solid state drives will drop in price and the overwrite technology will increase their lifespans, everything will be wireless, and instead of buying physical copies of anything (software cds, dvds, music cds)...EVERYTHING will be downloaded or streamed.

I'm glad they're trying to force multiple industries in that direction with everything they're doing, be it the pc market, the movie industry, or the music industry. Everyone said the iPod wouldn't catch on when it was first unveiled ("It's too expensive and there's already other mp3 players out there - plus I already have all these CD's!"). Watch where laptops go in the next few years...laptops will look more and more like this, and mp3 players/phones will keep trying to cop the iPhone.

The PC fanboys have been trying to call each Apple unveiling a failure for years. The iMac, the iPod, the iPhone, OSX, iTunes and a zillion other secondary products...if the only failures you can point to are the first iteration of apple tv (which looks to have a good future in it's new version) and the cube, you've got little to point fingers at.

Later Sony.

BoyWithBigHands

In the world of thin laptops, Apple wins. Is there other criteria to consider when buying a laptop? Of course. Is there more important criteria? That's subjective, but for most people it's yes.

So settle down. Gizmodo is simply answering the question "How thin is this laptop?" And they've done it.

GameLedge

Meaning that it is only 0.04" thicker than the Air. Is Amazon lying about the spec? Where did the chunky 1.37" figure come from?

travis

"Why is it a personal affront for a company to try something new, successful or not?"

Shhh..... don't say that!! You've just questioned the fundamental, raison d'etre of all the Apple haterz here! Don't take that away from them, they'll just shrivel up and die in the corner of their mothers' basements!

Dearhaw

/weeping

ANoel

Any router bought with Wireless-G as standard typically comes lacking Gigabit thru-put_ So yeah - compared to what most people are used to - the Wireless-N feature is slightly disconcerting - but they will notice a dramatic speed diffference in the long run_

But at the same time - I don't see this laptop - being marketed to people as a primary machine - as someone's only machine_ With the lack of the Optical Drive [which ironically - it comes with Installer DVDs] - someone with this as their only computer will end up having to nag a friend or family member to "borrrow" their machine in order to trouble-shoot problems - to install 3rd party software that requires CDs or DVDs_ There are plenty of non-Optical Media methods to get around this problem - as I have done enough tech support thru the years - but to the average user - they will not know the little known tips and tricks to so_

I see it as a good secondary machine_ Business travelers will probably flock to it - being lightweight and probably more storeable than their current equipment_ Folks that go out and do photo-shoots or shoot video in remote locations and need to edits there on the fly and or send off to a server someplace for futher processing - will probably like this again because of the weight and portability_

I definitely see a market for it - but more of a niche market than anything else_

uberfu

There are other products by Apple and many other companies you can buy. Why is it a personal affront for a company to try something new, successful or not?

hhaller

twarfel

ornj

twarfel

twarfel

ahhh - i have to plug it into the wall... ok, back again

i am definitely in the defcamp which loves.. obsessed with.. removable batteries.

deity, i love them!

i carry extras.. dead ones, nickels, hydrides, cadmiums.. even one i stole from mr black's regents chemistry in '83.

nothin beats the lithium - like i have to tell u dudes - but it does bear annoying repetition...
nothing beats having (10 or more) extra lithium batteries around the apt, nothing

petelobl

twarfel

twarfel

glassonion718

But Apple doesn't. They aren't shown even in the press pictures, but you can clearly see them in real life photos and videos, and surely add some thickness.

Endeavour

glassonion718

heladodecan.blogspot.com

I hate getting involved in these fanboy brawls, so I won't. But if you aren't interested in the MBA, just don't buy it. Just look at the scored of people who didn't even blink at any of Sony's VIO offerings. These are niche products and always will be. They will never be all things to all people.

tamoko

I read some responses and everybody is saying the same thing, the sensible thing, this is not thinner, its LESS!!!

Any writer who writes good stuff about this thing is being paid by apple if u ask me.

Crescent

I don't have music on it.

I use my iPOD for that. It's a better utility for it.

So, you CAN store everything you have on your computer, and if it's to be your only computer, I can understand the desire for a larger drive, but I know that most people don't use their laptops for much more than the typical stuff I mentioned above.

So, my Asus Eee is perfectly adequate for that.

BTW, does ASUS make the Apple AIR as well?

ASUS is the true God, not Apple. Apple's more like ASUS's disciple who takes all the credit.

darex

Blue_Mountain

I'm willing to bet they aren't running intensive Autocad models on it.

You want it to use in at Starbucks to...

- check e-mails
- surf the web
- write essays/letters/novels
???

I do all that, and watch Slingplayer, play Scrabble, look at photos, use Skype, etc..., etc...

I may only have 4+4 GB of storage, and 1 GB of RAM but I have Windows XP Pro, all my needed apps installed (MS Office, Skype, 3 different browsers, Outlook, every video codec, tons of photos -- you get the picture, and STILL I have about 5 GB of free space on my drives.

Explain that!?

Could it be that most people don't need 80GB, 100GB, 300GB of storage on their secondary computer? Me thinks it does!

Paradigm shift? You got it!

darex

liquidirony

LED backlit screen
SSD Memory
Lack of Optical Drive

Where the Eee is superior:

Removable battery
Smaller
Lighter
3 USB ports
Ethernet Port
Expandable SSD (free mini PCI-e slot)
Expandable RAM
Much better keyboard (MAC chiclet is crap keyboard)
Less likely to be dropped (AIR designed by Murphy's Law)
Costs 1/5th or 1/7th price of AIR
Equally attention-getting (if that's your bag)
SDHC reader
Comparable battery life (with Eee 6-cell battery)

No lust for the Air here!

darex

As for the storage capacity of the Eee PC, yes it's small but it's entirely adequate. The machine also has a convenient SDHC slot on the side if you wish to expand it. It's certainly enough for most people who wish to have a laptop to use in a coffee shop, aircraft, hotel room or whatever without the hassle of lugging around something bigger. I certainly wouldn't consider an Eee PC as a main machine, but it serves its role as a cheap, light, connected, casual machine admirably.

DrXym

So yeah, I think an Ethernet port is still pretty handy.

Jon78

phungy

Oh yeah: Jesus Diaz totally wins the comments. No question.

Padriac

I don't see many people being suckered into buying an Air. Maybe some Mac zealots. Other people will recognize what a waste of money it is, especially when there are such cheap alternatives.

DrXym

I haven't used an optical disc or ethernet cable or more than one USB peripheral with my laptop a single time in the last 4 years... DO I BLOW YOUR FUCKING MIND?

That said, the MBA is almost the perfect laptop companion for those that already have a desktop. I would stick with a MBP if it were my sole computer.

Padriac

shneish

@zakeen: Look at the screen size and the processor. The Mitsubishi Pendion is an old completely unusable piece of shit with a tiny screen. Again, point at a comparable laptop today.

@dvda: Look above.

Jesus Diaz

Sounds Like UMPC.. If anything Some UMPC'S Suport Wireless Broadband internet trough
Cellular Companys..

Someone Wake me up When the Next 3GiPhone Comes out.. and the New Mac Pro..

Beautiful Aluminum. Way OverPriced Notebook....

DJJS

"what innovation! Think Different my hot, muscular, Italian buttocks!"

You do realize that, as that Intel machine was a concept, price was not an issue, and if Apple went ahead and made something akin to that, even today, it would not cost the $1700 that a lot of you fuckin' haterz are bitching to no end about (despite the fact that obviously you're not even in the market for an Apple laptop to begin with, what with you being haterz 'n' all). Try $3000. If you're lucky.

But of course you would've been fine in that case, wouldn't ya? You wouldn't have bitched a least bit, no siree.

Dearhaw

Minus points for:
- Difficult battery replacement.
- Lack of external DVD drive as standard.
- Extremely overpriced product.

Plus points for:
- Lightweight & sturdy.
- Led backlight & keyboard.
- Fast WiFi

The price makes this baby a no-go for me, I can certainly afford one, but it´s not worth the asking price. Yes - I am willing to shell out a few hundred dollars extra on design alone, but not several thousands extra, no PC is worth that kind of money.

The 3000 dollar model is certainly aimed at the B & O - audience (Directors, movie-stars and "yuppies" that just have to shell out for the status of it, 3000 dollars for a laptop is - not - reasonable and certainly won´t be bought by the general audience.

I´ll pick up an Asus EEe instead, it´s not as pretty by far...but it has what I want. And I already have the big laptop for those other needs.

JoOngle

nojo

"What if you want to use a real mouse because touch pads suck?"

You know, they invented this cool thing called Bluetooth a while back. Have you heard of it?

"2.5G iPhone will gobble up this form over function train-wreck too."

Because the iPhone was SUCH a train-wreck that sold only 4M units since launch.

Man, I just love some of the reasoning that you haterz use. If an Apple product flops, you ridicule it and say "I told you so"; if an Apple product sells shit-loads, well, it's because everybody buying it is a mindless fuckin' sheeple tard that doesn't know any better. And of course, Windows has a 90% market share (though rapidly falling) because it's so awesome and everybody wants to use it and its awesome lineup of games.

Dearhaw

You guys are missing my point Im trying to make. Hands down to apple, great machine, nice and all would be fun toy. Hey I have a UX just for fun and it just sits there because its not a proper machine. The only thing I dont like about apple is they lie. Its not the thinnest laptop. Thats a huge claim. If they just brought it out saying, "New MBA", I would be like cool, thats a nice machine, not a full one but nice toy. Yes I might have compared to an order machine, it might be older, but its still a laptop.

zakeen

pax85

I know I sound like a big big fan boy right here, I am a fanboy, but I use windows and WM6 too, but you all are winning and pissing your pants over what you think might happen. You have to criticize something all the time. . . you trolls. Quit hating on apple for making things that are good, you are just mad that they made your eeePC look like a clunky out of date ebook reader.

--Tito--

xeijix

Anyone?

[gizmodo.com]

Ok, so Apple took Intel's own concept laptop design, tapered the edges, made it 0.05" thicker, removed the coolest features, and installed Leopard... what innovation! Think Different my hot, muscular, Italian buttocks!

Anyone who places form over function when looking at technology is missing the entire point of technology. I look forward to laughing at all of your Macbook Air battery rants, screen cracking problems, and overheating issues. Just know that I'll be reading it from my Tablet PC... something Apple has yet to discover.

draiko

I have wired gig-e, wireless N and FiOS, speak for yourself. This laptop is weaksauce for business travellers and USB network dongles suck ass for those of us with a real home network or in a corporate environment where wireless is a no-no. And it has only one port. What if you want to use a real mouse because touch pads suck? Better get a hub.

They should just call this the Mac DongleBook with all the crap you'll have to hang off it to get it to match a comprable unit from another vendor like Sony.

But oh well, the same 'tards that blew $600 on the 2.5G iPhone will gobble up this form over function train-wreck too.

Oh and I like the reasoning from Apple why you don't need a optical drive: you can just get your movies from ITMS. Great. Of course.

Seriously, all bashing aside, this laptop, feature-wise reads like it came out of a museum. The only innovation, if you want to call it that, is that it is thin and as others have already pointed out Toshiba did it thinner years ago with the R200.

Once again, Apple has done NOTHING INNOVATIVE yet their awesome marketing will convince legions that they need this under functional trendware in order to stay cool.

ianken

Crash900s

Clarence-Tissdale

Clarence-Tissdale

NeoPoliticus

02

What I find funny is how every fucking time Apple releases something extraordinary, we get a slew of these self-proclaimed experts come in, who can explain to everybody how said product sucks so badly and will utterly fail, because of this, that, or the other reason.

Sure, Apple has had its let-downs. Original iBook, the Cube (despite its awesomeness), and the recent Apple TV v.1.0 come to mind. But for every one of those, there have been two or three that excelled, and more than one that just totally blew everybody away (iPod series and the iPhone come to mind here).

The point being that, it's pretty much useless to make a prediction one way or the other regarding how well the MBA will do. Personally, I think it'll do great (although not phenomenal . . . that'll happen with Rev. B and a 200 dollar price drop ;-)

Dearhaw

AqueousBeef

AqueousBeef

The college I went to had power outlets in every room. Some rooms even had two!

someToast

Oh wait, that's Dell.

My bad.

MBPro

macmovieman

[global.mitsubishielectric.com]

297 mm (width) x 218 mm (depth) x 18 mm (height)*/1.5 kg

* Excluding protrusion

dcartist

nachobel

I'm realizing this isn't being marketed as a "main machine", however whiney college girls are going to want their daddies to buy them one, and having dead battery issues when papers are due is def. going to be FTL, esp. since you can't just go out and buy one.

nachobel

theimmc

do not want.

dangerfantastic

I don't even think I'd get one of these i I had money to burn, b/c what happens if I'm stuck somewhere or get creative and want to whip out photoshop and do some stuff...you won't be on the Air. At least, you won't want to. ever. And unless you're going to carry around your MBP + Air (thus kind of killing the thin aspect, no?) you'd still be up a creek.

I guess I just don't understand the point of this product. And I'm as apple fanboi-ish as they come (been on the wagon since way before the motherfucker had wheels)! I just don't get it. Something super thin I can take with me to take notes with? But that I don't mind spending $2k on?

nachobel

--Tito--

--Tito--

squirgle

--Tito--

I'll take a 5 hour battery over a battery that last 2 hours and is user replaceable.

@snitch29:
I agree with the battery deal. I had my doubts when I first saw the mockup, then again after ordering one. Then I thought about it. 5 hours with wifi. Two of my powerbook batteries would accomplish that and thats after like 4 years. I had maybe six hours total between the two when I first got the laptop. Took me about 10 minutes to change my position and plus some company will come up with an add on powerpack for it. And I think most people tend to carry the charger and the MBA's charger looks pretty small. At some point in your day you will sit down with your laptop and there will be a wall outlet near by. I'll gladly pay the $129 three years down the road. That's about as much a normal rechargeable, replaceable, laptop battery.

thechansen

Tiger-Fever

Those of you who can't deal with apples success: Go whine to your goddam mommies. The world is going wireless and one day all of you will wake up and realize this computer is genius.

No it's not perfect. But it's a first gen product...I mean how many of you actually watched the keynote? It's got a lot of solutions and lot going for it. They'll improve it soon and then you'll just have to admit it's better.

rotwblock

Yifkong

snitch29

snitch29

PaaatrickBabyBoy

But, yes, I still want ethernet ports.

Awesom-o

You know, I competely forgot that you can run Windows on a Mac. My bad.

That being said, if I were a Windows user (which I'm not), I can't see how a MacBook Air would be a smart purchase.

Incredible feat of engineering, though.

iSmoteThee

gary_slamson.

ferrdidly

aynaiya

I have the very MM20 you speak of and its spectacular. I won't replace it until I can get a ultra portable that's got Xohm built in.

GusRandall

gary_slamson.

gary_slamson.

Death

And what the do you know about valid arguments. Are you well adversed in arguments. Wheres the proof that you are an expert arguer. Are you in debate club? Who the fuck are you to say what people should and shouldn't say, or what people should or shouldn't talk about.

Go look in the back of your PC and find a big black cable. Unplug it and do us all a favor.

diabolusunknown

coll

matt1978

bandit

The Air not having a interchangeable battery is a BIG mistake. If the battery fails, the entire laptop will need to go to the factory for repair. I can't wait until all of the complaints and regrets start compiling over the Air's miscues.

notamacnyc

MrBlahBlah

GumbyJump said:
TEll me Apple, HOW TO DO YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH NOT HAVING A REPLACEABLE BATTERY?!?!?!?!

I'm not saying it was a good idea, I'm just saying the battery is a non-issue for someone with their eye on this thing and $1800 burning a hole in their pocket.

formicae

zakeen

@Jesus,
it would be "fucking amazing" had sony not made an extremely thin VAIO VGN-X505VP , is it slimmer than the MBA? no but considering it was made 4 "fucking amazing" years ago...thats not bad. How bout with your facts we give a healthy dose of perspective?

But I think you are missing the point. With all that was left out (replaceable battery, upgradeable harddrive and ram, stereo speakers, ethernet input, standard video out, cd drive, etc) this is less about a whos slimmer but more about with sacrificing so much to be thin does it make worth it? If you have to tote around several dongles and drive...did your really save much off the weight? Hence why this was a disappointment for a fair number of people. We don't want uber thin with limited functionality. We'll take a healthy comprimise.

dvda

CarbonatedWater

glowplug

I believe Intel-based Macs can boot from USB 2.0 hard drives so the MBA should be able to as far as I can tell.

mattjumbo

heero884

That said, I don't understand some of the things people are bitching about. Replaceable batteries? For fuck's sake. I'd say maybe 2% of all laptop purchasers buy an extra battery. In the past ten years I've owned as many laptops, both Apple and Windows PCs, and never have I bought an extra battery. For crying out loud, some of you bitch about having to shlep around a tiny ass USB hub/dongle/SuperDrive, but you're perfectly willing to carry around extra batteries?

Obviously, the MBA is not for everyone. Hell, none of Apple's computers are for everyone (if they were, Macs would have 100% market share). But if some of you think the MBA is going to be a flop because you don't like it... well, just remember what a lot of people "in the know" said when the original iPod was released.

Dearhaw

Mr.Purple

AqueousBeef

Danielzinho

heero884

Niskyspy

That sizemodo actually really makes me want one of the new EEE PCs. Thinness is great, but smallness and price win.

Pope John Peeps II

aec007

Except this Mac is clearly being marketed to those with large sums of money and small amounts of computer savvy. People who buy the Air are expected to take the computer in for any problems, just like they do with their Jags. Hopefully the Air will at least be more reliable.

mrface

duckylam

Go tell this to third graders who might find you mildly entertaining.

diabolusunknown

@lpxxfaintxx: I cant say anything intelligent to that.

Bauer22

Just like sports fans complain about a team signing a player, paying too much for a GM, keeping two execs that know shit about the sport (cough the Leafs cough) and people complaining about a company making a nice car in one area of the world while handing us north Americans absolute garbage (cough the Focus cough), people complain about products companies make.

None of us are qualified or are capable of owning and managing a team nor can we start an automotive maker and make the cars we like. But we can bitch about it when it doesn't make sense to us.

diabolusunknown

N00bs. go away.

iomatic

But it's still badaasssssssssssssss...

If it was a few hundred dollars cheaper, yeah, I'm all over it for a travel companion.

summarize:
Idea == awesomeness
Price == whoopsies

iomatic

- All you dimwits

If everyone of you is so freaking smart, and have your finger on the pulse of the populace, then why don't you own a business already?

matt1978

lpxxfaintxx

Thank you! A semblance of sanity. Some of you are just shithouse nuts.

By *any* reasonable measure, the MBA outperforms (in system performance) the best Sony offers at a smaller size. I would say "and similar price" but since the lowest price Vaio TZ I can find on their site starts at 2100 bucks, I can't!

I mean, seriously. are you guys offering honest opinions or trying to stir the pot? If the MBA isn't for you, super. You need a card reader or ethernet port, or some other thing you can't live without, fine.

But no reasonable person can argue that the price is out of line.

mattjumbo

Bauer22

pevans34

kavendano14

Technology has changed, but it shows that even 4 years ago companies had really thin machines.

I love the look of the MBA, but can't help thinking Steve Jobs pushed his designers to make it the thinnest in the world at the expense of things like Firewire and an Ethernet port.

It's easy to make something really thin if you remove everything but a headphone jack and a USB port.

If Apple had made this AND managed to keep all the ports in it PLUS an optical drive, I would have been impressed. Apple has proven before that they can do the impossible. And this was not it IMHO.

scoobydoo

All this does is blind and wow people with its thinness. In the end, its just a thin and crippled laptop. Most of us arnt easily swayed by Apples bullshit.

diabolusunknown

@squirgle
Why wait for zune helium (or Zelium), the sony tz is already out... has all the tiny form factor without sacrificing anything. MBA a Step ahead? not really. The weight they cut out of the laptop gets added back in with all the accessories you have to carry. Pretty silly.

If they had come out with a smaller MBP I think people would have been a lot more excited.

dvda

I'll wait for an updated MBP.

dagamer34

Is its battery life zero without a battery? How about the battery life on the MBA without a battery? Is it better than the Vaio?

Most of us are not saying that one is thinner than the other. We are aware the VAIO is thicker. But while having such a small footprint, a decent (read: not better than the MBA) processor, a full optical drive, an absolute shitload of connectors, it still pulls off an impressive feat while staying small and sacraficing very little.

Meanwhile the MBA is large, thin (yes, really thin) and pretty powerful (except the 80gig hard drive which is a low RPM model and is an absolute donkey) sacrafices way too much to be worth the money it is. Had they included some bare essentials, there would be little doubt about how good it is.

All i know is that the VAIO makes very few sacrafices and still provides such an impressive package. Not to mention, its due for an update.

diabolusunknown

More power to ya. But im still going with the VAIO TZ or SZ for personal reasons.

PS: you can't tell me you didn't expect the flame war of the ages once Steve's key note hit the interweb.

Lavallee017

1. The VAIO, without the battery, it's still thicker than the Macbook Air. Without the battery, its battery life is pathetic. And yes it has a built-in drive, but it's also underpowered and has a smaller screen.

2. About this post, the Sharp and all the other portables some PC fanboys are quoting, here and by mail:

We compared it the TZ because it's the only laptop that can be compared in specs (and still falls short o power) and to the Eee PC because it's the most popular small computer out there at the moment. The portables that some of you mention are not even in the same galaxy in terms of specs:

MacBook Air
4 to 19.4mm

VAIO VGN-X505VP (pentium M 1GHz 10.4 screen)
11 to 21mm

Sharp Actius MM20 (a fucking Transmeta processor!)
20.32 mm

Toshiba Portege R200 (Pentium M again? Christ)
20.32 mm

Mitsubishi Pendion (Pentium MMX 233MHz and 64 MEGABYTES OF RAM)
18mm (ALL around)

So yes, the MacBook Air IS thinner, not to mention that you are comparing a powerful Core 2 Duo computer with 5 hour battery life with four computers that can barely stand a chance in performance, and which have smaller screens to boot.

You can like or dislike Apple, I don't give a damn. But it's undeniable that the MacBook Air is a fucking amazing machine in terms of technology miniaturization, which happens to work with both Mac OS X and Windows XP and Vista.

So please, if you are going to argue, why don't you post facts or TFSU?

Thanks.

Jesus Diaz

Any keyboard becomes comfortable to someone who spends 2000 on a laptop and is forced to use it (I became a champ on my portege, even with the mouse nub, which became like a analog stick for me).

diabolusunknown

Sony tried almost identical to the macbook Air with its X505...consumers decided it was too much money for a computer with no ports and no optical drive, not to mention the similar price tag of $3000. unfortunately the only place a super slim notebook with the lack of features like the Air and the X505 is in someones home as a novelty because when it comes down to work or play it just end up like the palm foleo...

Lavallee017

its not....closer to 1500 + $300 apple markup (osx tax)

MrBlahBlah

And i think Apple has gone way too far with their minimalistic attitude (while, surprisingly, switching to dongles and external devices which isn't so minimalistic). I'm really surprised this thing even has keys.

diabolusunknown